Judging by the Cover

All four book covers for Never Let Me Go make different implications about the novel. Each cover has a unique color scheme associated with it. Depending on the color scheme, a certain mood can be implied about the novel. The bottom two covers, which contain a darker color pattern, suggest a dark, ominous mood. In contrast, the top two covers, which have a lighter color scheme, imply a more hopeful, or even mysterious, disposition. Thus, the intentions for the cover reflect the individual artist's impression of the novel itself.  

For this analysis, I will examine two book covers. When looking at the first cover (above), the first word that comes to my mind is "life". The artist does a great job of emphasizing the greenery in this cover. By placing the girl, which I assume to be Kathy, in the middle of a sea of grass and plants, the artist forces his/her audience to consider vitality and liveliness. Without having read the novel, this cover paints a rather happy idea of what the book might be about. Typically, an abundance of plants implies a feeling of being alive. The girl in the middle, however, with her head down and frown on her face, suggests that the novel may have a depressing focus. Now that I've read the book, I see how the cover relates to the novel's emphasis on life in such a corrupt system. The children of Hailsham live in a world where they are mislead to believe that their lives are normal with bright futures ahead. In reality, however, the future doesn't have much opportunity in store for them. Thus, the cover underscores this apparent contrast between the way life seems and the way it actually is. Although the girl is sitting in a field full of life and plants (which generally implies an upbeat and optimistic connotation), she acknowledges the reality of her predetermined fate. 

The second book cover (above), is much more ominous, and even threatening, than the first one. The title of the novel are written with barbed wire, implying a dangerous nature to be associated with the book. In all honesty, the first words that come to my mind when I look at this cover are "death" and "confinement". I say "death" because of the way that the title is written. The letters are spaced out oddly with no attention to organization or a line scheme. This lack of structure makes me feel that the novel will break the conventions of its genre and create a chaotic setting. I also say "confinement" because the barbed wire makes me think that people are being held against their own will, by force. If I hadn't read the novel, I would think that it was inspired by events in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. The shape of the barbed wire forms the outline of the internal organs of a human body. This observation makes me think that people may be killed or sacrificed in the novel, with special attention to their human anatomy. Having read the novel, I see the correlation between the cover and the plot. The cover is clearly pointing at the fact that the children of Hailsham will one day be forced to donate their organs. Moreover, the forest in the background of the cover is indicative of the same forest that haunts the children of Hailsham. 

Both the first and second book covers are strong in their ability to make implications about the text. Although they both reflect real events and ideas that transpire in the novel, they do so in different ways. To some extent, the covers serve as a "lens" with which to look at the book. This "lens," however, is different for each artist. While the first cover's artist chooses to underscore the irony contained within the novel, the second cover's artist emphasizes a pessimistic outlook. Because of this, it is clear that a book cover can be used to create many different perceptions of a novel. To relate back to the old saying, "don't judge a book by its cover," I now understand the legitimacy of this cliche. While each cover suggests something different about the novel, at the end of the day they all contain the same story.